Document Type : Original Article
Authors
- Neda Malekmohammadi 1
- Ali Mirzazadeh 2
- Abedin Iranpour 1
- Mehdi Shafiei Bafti 3
- Farzaneh Zolala 4
- Willi McFarland 5
- Hamid Sharifi 1
1 HIV/STI Surveillance Research Center, and WHO Collaborating Center for HIV Surveillance, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
2 HIV/STI Surveillance Research Center, and WHO Collaborating Center for HIV Surveillance, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
3 Communicable and Noncommunicable Disease Department, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
4 Social Determinants in Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
5 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
Abstract
Background: This study aimed to measure internal and external HIV stigma and their associated factors among people living with HIV in the southeast of Iran.
Methods: Using convenience sampling and a standard questionnaire, we recruited 104 HIV-positive patients (40% women) in 2018-2019 from two public clinics in Kerman, Iran. The internal stigma scale ranged from 0-22 and the external stigma scale ranged from 0-11 in which a higher score indicates higher stigma.
Results: The mean internal stigma score was 10.7 (SD: 5.2), and that of the external stigma score was 3.1 (SD: 2.9). In multivariable regression analysis, women (Adjusted (Adj). ᵦ=-3.3; p=0.08), and married people (Adj. ᵦ=-5.5; p=<0.001) experienced less internal stigma. In contrast, those who were a member of support group of PLHIV (Adj. ᵦ=2.8; p=0.04), and those infected by sexual contact (Adj. ᵦ=2.1; P=0.006) experienced a higher internal stigma. Moreover, married people (Adj. ᵦ=-1.4; p=0.01), those with high school or higher education (Adj. ᵦ=-1.7; p=0.002), and those with other transmission routes (Adj. ᵦ=-1.4; P=0.01) experienced lower external stigma.
Conclusions: People living with HIV feel considerable internal and external stigma. Addressing HIV stigma should be tailored based on gender, education, marriage, peer groups, and risk groups as these factors have different effects on stigma experiences.
Keywords
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